This week was pretty good. Sorry I didn't take any pictures this week. Next week I'll get some!
So
to translate... Mie sakau wasa koaros means there is sakau everywhere.
Sakau en Wai is Alcohol, and just sakau is the alcohol-like drink that
the locals make from a root here. Pretty much the same thing. Drinking
is a real struggle here. This week I feel like it's been really
prominent though. Maybe it's because of all the mehla recently
(funerals/deaths). But one day we were driving through Sokehs, coming
back from teaching Marlene, and there was this guy walking/stumbling
down the middle of the road. We slowed down, then had to stop because he
wasn't getting out of the way. When we got close, he was obviously
really drunk. And he had blood splattered all over him. It was kinda
freaky, because his eyes wouldn't focus. He moved out of the way and we
slowly moved on. We looked back at him and he was all dirty too. We
think he fell and maybe cut his head or something. It was freaky.
Then
last night we were dropping off our member present and there was
another drunk guy that two guys were holding up, maybe holding back from
fighting someone. When we drove past again, there was a lady screaming
at him and he was yelling back. No idea what they were saying. It was
crazy. Oh! And that same day, we were waiting outside the chapel for
people so we could have English class (we do it every Sunday night) a
whole bunch of boys were gathered on the road in front of the church and
two of them got into a fight. They eventually broke it up and one left.
It was crazy though. We almost called the cops.
On
a more positive note, there's this little girl named Mesiana. She's
super cute. We were at the chapel and she started climbing the coconut
tree next to our car. She's like 8 years old and was scaling it like it
was nothing! It was crazy. Sometimes I wish we could climb coconut
trees, but we aren't allowed. Plus it'd be hard in a skirt haha.
Sooo....
Haven't followed up on obedience yet. To be honest, I got caught up
studying lots of other things that I forgot for a bit. But! I learned a
lot, and know I will continue to learn more. Joseph Smith said that any
time you receive any blessing, it's because you were obedient to the
laws of God. I know that's true. If we want blessings, we have to obey
God's commandments to receive them.
I was
talking to our bishop yesterday (I understood almost everything he said!
It was really cool!). He thanked me and Sister Fehoko for our hard
work. He said attendance in Sacrament has gone way up. I know it's true:
I remember when we first got here, there was maybe 50-60 people coming
to church. Last Sunday we had 111! That's double! There were 6 Less
Actives and 5 investigators. Really cool to see. One of the
investigators was Loid. He stayed outside and listened through the
window, then disappeared after Sacrament. We've put him on the shelf
because we see him drinking a lot. I keep praying that we will be able
to teach him again, and he will understand the importance of obeying the
Word of Wisdom. We've taught him countless times that he can't feel the
Spirit if he's drinking or smoking, but until he believes it himself,
he won't change.
We went to go see
Cartwright the other night, and he said, "Maybe you can come back later,
because I'm a little drunk right now." It was kind of funny. But then
he was saying stuff like, "I don't want to be a burden. It's been awhile
since you guys came." We told him it's not a burden at all. Then he
said if he knows we are coming, he won't drink and stuff. So we sent an
appointment for yesterday.... and he wasn't there. A little kid (I think
his nephew) said he was drinking. Ekis kapwung >.< But that's ok!
We are going to go see him again, hopefully tonight or tomorrow. We'll
try to help him pull through.
Satan is working
so hard to keep people from repenting and coming to Christ. I see it
every day. Sometimes it's a little discouraging, but as I keep working
and loving the people, I feel supported from my Father in Heaven. All
will be well! Even though it seems like we aren't making a lot of
progress, I know we must be because attendance at church is going back
up.
Read 2 Nephi 31. It's a super good
chapter. President Zarbock told us to memorize it, haha. It really is
good though. It talks about the Doctrine of Christ. It's what this
Gospel is all about.
That's it for this week. I
poakepoake kumwail! Chin up, life is great! (Not just saying that cuz
I'm on a island. Life really is great, no matter where you are, when you
are on the Lord's side ^^)
Sister Springer
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